. . . It was then some bright thing came in my eyes,

Starting at the back of them and flowing

Suddenly through my head and down my arms

And stomach and my bare legs that seemed not

To stop in feet, not to feel the red earth

Of the Gully, as though we hung in a

Touch of birds. . .

Excerpt from "Picnic,” by John Logan

I woke a little late and did not want to walk before finishing writing and sending my weekly Aim for Astonishing writing prompt. With my coffee, in the pleasant summer, I dug in, finished it up, and hit send. I call it “Writing Epiphany at a Picnic,” inspired by the 4th of July, a first kiss, and a poem by John Logan, “Picnic.” I really enjoyed myself, seeing where this prompt would also take me, by writing it. (If you didn’t receive it, and you want to, just e-mail me, and I’ll send it to you.) Once finished, I felt to satisfied and gratified that I had accomplished this writing on a holiday weekend. Then, with the juice of creative zest pulsing, I went out into the gardens and watered, weeded a bit, and then it was time go walk with Perri and the dogs to the pond for a swim in the heat. We packed a lunch to eat in the sunshine and had a lovely afternoon in the sun with my friend. I thought, yes, July is my favorite month of all. It is the month of purest summer. June involves coming into summer, leaving spring; August involves enjoying summer, and transitioning to Fall. July is just July being July, wildflowers and weeds, hot sun, sun showers of rain, thunderstorms, sticky heat, cooling swims, meals outdoors on the deck, and the delicious scent of the prolific ferns when they are heated by high temperature and sun through the canopy, the ferns cooking pleasantly, all along the wooded trail. In the late afternoon, I found that writing my writing prompt today is warming me up, like the ferns, into the heat of a poem I hope to draft this week. I am heated, greened and scented too.